


hope in a one night blaze

by leopardlynx



Series: futile devices [1]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Alternate Universe - Photographer, Angst, Body Image, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Multi, Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn, knife shoes appreciation society, tw: mention of bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 04:51:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15453732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leopardlynx/pseuds/leopardlynx
Summary: Itsuki didn't expect hot-shot photographer and former international model sensation Yuzuru Hanyu to slide into his DMs with a proposition. It all gets weirder from there.“I…” Yuzuru Hanyu started, and turned to Itsuki with a helpless shrug when Shoma stood silently, just narrowing his eyes at him. “So, uh. I heard you’re interested in photography now?”





	hope in a one night blaze

**Author's Note:**

> This is our first collab, so please be gentle <3 
> 
> Disclaimer: We love helpful criticism and comments! Obviously, this is a work of fiction and is not intended to be taken as the truth or a 'reenactment' of reality, even though the characters are real people. If you are in anyway offended by this fic please click the 'back' button on your screen. No need to pain yourself reading this.
> 
> Fic title from Oh Wonder's song _Heavy_

 

Itsuki didn’t expect the a sudden onslaught of notifications at 3am when he was in the middle of beating his brother’s ass at super mario cart. But here he was, lounging on the couch with Shoma whining beside him - ‘You cheated!’ ‘You wish I did’ - suddenly his phone vibrated aggressively, distracting him  and causing Shoma to whoop with glee as he won the race. Itsuki kicked him in revenge and fished for his phone in the couch cushions. He squinted at his phone - he never got Instagram notifications. Weird. 

_ From: Yuzuruhanyu20142018  _

_ >>Hi Itsuki! I was wondering if you’d be willing to meet me for coffee. I have a proposition.  _

Itsuki let out a shuddering breath. Then he promptly screamed. 

“Shoma! Oh my god!” 

“What,” Shoma said, all of his focus on the screen in front of them. The game was paused, but that didn’t seem to matter. 

“I just got a DM,” Ituski flapped his hands at Shoma excitedly, eyes still glued to his phone. His brother let out a disgruntled oof, controller slipping out of his hands.

“From  _ Yuzuru Hanyu _ . You know.  _ The _ Yuzuru Hanyu?” 

“You mean the photographer,” Shoma murmured slowly. Something seemed off about him, but Ituski was too hype to care. 

“Yes!” Itsuki squealed, ignoring Shoma’s expression. “He wants to meet me. SHOMA!! He wants to meet  _ me.”  _

“What for.” 

“I assume to shoot me,” Itsuki rolled his eyes, his brother was so  _ slow _ . “But he didn’t actually say.” 

Shoma leaned over him to glance at the message. The blue light reflected off his skin, and Itsuki glanced up at him, struck with just how alike they looked. He suddenly remembered one of the photos in his portfolio, a side profile thrown into sharp relief by neon lighting, recalling how long it took to get that one angle. Shoma seemed to capture the hours of work in one second, the tilted head looking so deliberately  _ easy _ . 

“He wrote you on instagram?” Shoma narrowed his eyes at the screen, slowly reading out the message. “Wow that sounds shady. You’re not meeting this guy on your own. Might be an impostor.” 

“...Shoma. That’s his account. He has like three million followers.” 

“Only three?” Shoma grinned. Itsuki sighed deeply. 

“I’ll just tell him to meet me here, so you can supervise, yeah?” 

Shoma nodded drowsily. As was his brother’s norm, his eyes were sliding shut now that he wasn’t being bombarded with the lights and noises from a video game. Itsuki smiled down at him, and smoothed the wild strands of hair down on Shoma’s forehead. 

He couldn’t  _ wait.  _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Itsuki was vibrating in his seat, excitedly clenching his hands and his portfolio. He stared intensely at the clock on the wall - 11:59:10, 11:59:11, his meeting getting closer with every ‘tick’ of the second hand.

“Where is he?” Itsuki whined, gripping white knuckled at his books. 

Shoma, pouring an entire cup of sugar into his oversized mug, shrugged. “He’s an artist. Don’t expect him to be on time.” 

He glanced at the clock himself and threw Itsuki a judgemental look. “Besides there’s still a good 45 seconds to go before he’s even late.” 

Itsuki stuck his tongue out at him, wishing he could make the seconds tick by faster. 

“You need to relax,” Shoma said, as if he hadn’t been a nervous wreck before a casting call, back when he was still modelling. Itsuki remembered those times well, sitting in a room crowded with kids, not allowed to talk or play with them, parents staring, calculating, watching every move of the other children. He recalled waiting for Shoma to come out of the casting rooms, as he himself had been too small to get jobs.  He remembered old conversations that his parents had, of his older brother having a ‘prodigal’ talent and being very popular with editorials. 

“Ugh-” Itsuki started, but already there was a knock at the door. “Hah,” he said instead, throwing Shoma a triumphant look,  “he’s on time.”

Shoma just shrugged and took a long sip of his terrible concoction. He turned away. 

“Hi,” Yuzuru Hanyu said, like it was nothing, and he was just anyone. Itsuki took a moment to just stare at the face that he had posters of in his room, mouth slightly agape. 

Yuzuru Hanyu had been one of Japan’s first supermodel exports before retiring at the peak of his career to take his place on the other side of the camera lens. He still took random jobs, for photographers or designers who’d befriended him during his stint as a model, but nowadays he was one of the most sought after photographers globally for his unique taste in taking a role in every part of the publishing process, from shooting to editing and directing. 

Itsuki had wanted to be shot by him, in any way possible, since he started working. He aspired to be like Yuzuru Hanyu, who had turned the peak of his career into another and kept going non-stop. 

“Hello,” Itsuki said, collecting his voice. He shuffled to the side, feet taking a moment to obeying his commands. “Please, come in.” 

Yuzuru Hanyu took a curious look around. The apartment wasn’t spotless, but it wasn’t messy: even though Shoma gave his best to destroy Itsuki’s efforts at keeping it clean. Yuzuru Hanyu didn’t look taken aback, just curious and a little unsure, perhaps. 

“Thank you for inviting me into your home,” he said, and followed Itsuki into the kitchen. Itsuki turned to offer him some coffee, only to watch Yuzuru Hanyu’s eyes grow wide at the sight of Shoma, still in his pajamas, giant coffee mug and messy hair. 

“Oh,” Itsuki said, quickly, “this is--” 

“Shoma Uno,” Yuzuru Hanyu said, with a growing smile. Shoma blinked at him owlishly, settling his cup down and tossing his head. 

It then dawned on Itsuki, that there was  _ something _ in the bushes that he hadn’t accounted for. 

“Uh,” Shoma said. “Hi. I’m just here to make sure you don’t steal my baby brother.” 

Itsuki watched Yuzuru Hanyu, who was really standing in Itsuki’s kitchen, blink slowly. His smile grew ever so slightly wider and more... enamoured? 

Oh.  _ Oh _ . Itsuki sat down. There was a reason Yuzuru Hanyu had dm-ed him in the middle of the night. It didn’t look like that reason was Itsuki, or a photoshoot. A small stone sat at the bottom of his stomach, but there was also excitement, a dawning light that he thought was long overdue. 

“I…” Yuzuru Hanyu started, and turned to Itsuki with a helpless shrug when Shoma stood silently, just narrowing his eyes at him. “So, uh. I heard you’re interested in photography now?” 

He said it into the room, as if he expected Itsuki or Shoma to catch his train of thought and answer accordingly, although it was clear who he was addressing. Shoma didn’t say anything, sullenly staring into his emptying mug. Itsuki swallowed his disappointment and took the reigns.  

“He is,” he says, “Shoma has been interning with a few of his old contacts. How did you know?” 

Yuzuru shifted uncomfortably, biting his famous lips and smiling softly. Itsuki meets his brother’s eyes over his shoulder and grinned reassuringly at him. Shoma’s doe eyes had gone wide with realisation. He’s always been a little slow, Itsuki thought affectionately, but he loved him anyway.  

“Mihoko told me,” Yuzuru Hanyu admitted. He shrugged, looking down and fumbling with his bag. “She didn’t give me Shoma’s contact info, though.” 

“Oh,” Itsuki says, face falling a little. It doesn’t matter that he’d figured this out five minutes ago, it still hurt to be the bridge of idol to… his brother. “So that proposition isn’t for me at all?” 

Shoma came forward to stand beside Itsuki, his presence reassuring and warm. He has always had Itsuki’s back, from the moment Itsuki decided to step in front of the camera, and even when Shoma left the limelight behind and turned towards new goals in life. 

“Wow,” Shoma says, obviously unimpressed. He said it quietly, but his judgement was clear. 

“I’m sorry,” Yuzuru Hanyu said, a little helplessly. “I’ll shoot you if you really want, but… I wanted to offer Shoma a job. I need an assistant, and…”

“It would be great for your portfolio,” Itsuki told Shoma. Shoma’s face was blank, unresponsive, but Itsuki knew he was considering his options carefully. “I’m not disappointed,” Itsuki told him. It wasn’t true, he still felt a pit of jealousy in his stomach, but it would be a disappointment for Shoma to throw away this incredible opportunity. 

Yuzuru Hanyu was big. His name - his  _ brand _ was big. Attaching Shoma’s name to Yuzuru Hanyu meant more opportunities, a flux of influences, and a larger  _ future _ in the industry. 

Shoma bit at his cracked lips, knuckles growing white as they gripped at the mug’s handle. 

“I promise I’m not disappointed,” Itsuki told him again, softer, moving closer to Shoma and brushing at his hands. “Please take this Shoma, it’ll be good for you.”

He watched the tension bleed out of Shoma’s shoulders, a look that seemed half excited, half resigned and shifted his attention to where Yuzuru Hanyu, was, watching the two brothers discourse. 

“Okay,” Shoma said quietly. “I’ll talk to my agent.” 

“But, Mihoko,” Yuzuru Hanyu perked up, tilting his head like an excited puppy, “she told me it would be okay?” 

He’s a bit of a dick, Itsuki thought. 

Itsuki wasn’t really sure if he wanted Shoma to work with someone this unaware of the other person’s feelings - but something about the way Yuzuru Hanyu watched his brother, taking in his body language and going out of his way to reassure him, made Itsuki feel like he would hurt anyone  _ but _ Shoma. 

And Shoma had been hurt enough. 

He remembered being young enough to find adventure in exploring the large, very fancy looking building during a sibling photoshoot with Shoma, who was 16 and maturing slowly. 

He remembered overhearing hushed discussions behind half closed doors. 

“A shame that one Uno brother, Shoma, isn’t tall enough.”

“Yes, he’s cute but he won’t make it if he doesn’t grow up. It’s a pity, he does have an eye for the camera.”

Large, widening doe eyes that seemed suddenly shiny. Itsuki remembers tugging at his brother’s expensive shirt, twisting his fist into the fabric to make him look into Itsuki’s eyes. He remembers quietly asking what was the matter when he  _ knew _ those were tears in his brother’s eyes. Shoma had shushed Itsuki, had rubbed his eyes dry and pressed his ear closer to the door, chin and lower lip trembling. 

“The boy will quit soon, Nikolai, he’s too soft. He won’t be able to handle this industry.”

“I agree, Eteri. His brother has potential through.” 

“Ahh, Itsuki! Yes, well, one brother is always better than the other.”

Tears had fallen from Shoma’s eyes, overwhelmed and shuddering breaths that seemed to wrench out of Shoma’s chest like a trapped bird. 

Shoma finished his last few contracts, but he didn’t come out of his room unless he was working, and there was no more joy in it for him. He looked blank, uncertain, his posture stiff and his mouth caught perpetually mid-frown. The photos were bad, even as a kid Itsuki could tell, and now that he was older he thought of them with a wince. 

Shoma had shut himself in his room, closed off from his family and unresponsive to Itsuki’s banging on his door. He had not take any more jobs. Instead, Shoma announced that he wanted to quit modelling, wanted to focus on other things, school, gaming, doing nothing. 

Their agent had called him after their parents gave up on talking to Shoma through his bedroom door. Itsuki didn’t know what Mihoko told Shoma. He came out a little happier, a little more relaxed. Not the same, but. Focused again, with a goal in sight. 

She had helped Shoma find his first internship a few months later, with a small-time studio not far from home. Shoma had bought a camera, had started taking photos of everything but people. He hadn’t taken a photo of Itsuki for a long time. 

No. Shoma had been hurt enough, and Itsuki would not let that happen again.

“We’ll call you back,” Itsuki said, and nodded to the door. Yuzuru Hanyu, taking a last wistful look at Shoma, shoulders drawn up around his ears again, followed him, feet padding uncharastically softly. 

“I…” he tried, one foot outside the doorway, “I didn’t mean to mislead you.” 

Itsuki shrugged noncommittally... He didn’t mean to be rude - this was Yuzuru Hanyu after all-  but it still sucked to be rejected. 

Like Shoma had been.

“You could have just written what you really wanted in your DMs,” he shot back, “that would have made things a lot more straightforward.” 

“I wasn’t sure I’d get a foot in the door,” Yuzuru Hanyu admitted, shuffling his feet. Itsuki stared at him. Did he really think everything in the world came so easily? 

“Well, he’s considering it,” Itsuki said grudgingly. He glared at Yuzuru Hanyu like he wanted to burn a hole in his chest. “And if you hurt him in any way, I’ll clobber you with your equipment.” 

This made Yuzuru Hanyu give a flickering smile. “Good,” he chuckled lightly. “I’ll do my best not to.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Come join our discord server! It's full of screaming about le skaters and positivity. https://discord.gg/F2Yfdng 
> 
> (I promise I wasn't taken hostage and I am not currently being held in a cave -unos)


End file.
